BNP Paribas is in talks to buy UK-based private client stockbroker JM Finn, according to sources close to the broker. Executives from BNP...

BNP Paribas is in talks to buy UK-based private client stockbroker JM Finn, according to sources close to the broker. Executives from BNP Paribas and JM Finn signed a confidentiality agreement relating to the potential transaction at the end of last week say people familiar with the matter. Last month the French banking giant agreed to buy the Paris-based private banking arm Franco-Belgian bank Dexia in a deal worth close to €200 million ($263 million). At the time of the Dexia deal, François Debiesse, head of BNP Paribas private bank said it could be the first of several for his bank, which he confirmed was in takeover talks for “a much bigger operation” outside France. The Dexia acquisition added €2.8 billion of assets under management, and put BNP Paribas into the global top ten private banks, with assets under management of almost €140 billion. JM Finn was founded as a partnership in 1945 and incorporated as a private limited company in 2006. It is owned by its directors and staff and has offices in London, Bristol, Leeds and Bury St Edmunds. The broker manages over £2.5 billion ($4.85 billion) on behalf of private clients, charities and trusts. A spokesman for JM Finn & Co told WealthBriefing: "We have no comment to make at this time."